In Demand L.L.C. expects to sign a number of video-on-demand rights deals
with studios in the next few weeks.
During his keynote remarks at the Kagan VOD Summit in New York Thursday, In
Demand president and CEO Steve Brenner said the pay-per-view purveyor would
announce a VOD deal with a major studio next week, followed by one or two more
deals by the end of May.
'If [Kagan's event] was a week later, I could say it,' he added.
In Demand already has VOD-film agreements with Warner Bros. and Universal
Studios, among the major studios, plus Artisan Entertainment and other
independent suppliers.
Brenner added that In Demand is working with a number of billing vendors to
facilitate real-time VOD-buy-result reporting, with expectations that this
ability will be in place and operating by the end of the year.
As for the overall VOD scene, he added, In Demand envisions at least 4
million VOD cable households by the end of 2002, double the estimated current
universe. Brenner said the recent stepped-up pace of service introductions by
Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable and other operators may alter that projection
upward.
By year's end, cable should have some 26.6 million digital subscribers, up
from some 15 million to 16 million currently.
He also held to earlier forecasts of a $3.5 billion VOD-revenue market by
2005, rising to $8.2 billion by 2008. 'We think we'll be as fast a growth
category as DVDs,' Brenner said.
